I got very impatient (bored silly) at a faculty
meeting many years ago and decided I just had to skip out early (very early). It had
hardly started but the agenda nearly put me to sleep. At any rate, to justify
my premature escape I went off to a nearby wood (Little Tract) to scout around for
something special. I found the finest collection of Geastrum I had
ever seen. The patch was at least a metre square and contained hundreds of
Fruitbodies at all stages of development. This is one of the many shots I took
that day. The moral is clear if you have a choice of going to a faculty meeting or
the woods, it pays to go to the woods. At least if you can find something so special
that it salves your conscience. I have never seen a collection of Geastrum
triplex this impressive before or since - and time is running out.

Geastrum triplex
not so Collared Earthstar

I got an E-mail the other day from a gentleman
in Mississippi and it reads as follows:"Here in southern Mississippi a fairly common Geastrum is one
opening to about 11cm across and it's G. triplex in every respect I can determine
except that there is no hint of a collar. Ours are not the least colonial, always appear
alone, plus they seem to be larger than G. triplex. Any idea what it could
be?"

Response:Dear Jim:

Despite what you say I think your species
may indeed be Geastrum triplex. I have a book on British species of
Gasteromycetes and it describes and illustrates 16 species of Geastrum. G.triplex
is far and away the largest species and the range is 3.5-12.5 cm so that is just
about the size you are talking about. All of the G. triplex I have seen have
been fairly big but not usually over 10 cm. This may be a varietal thing or perhaps
growing conditions are better in Mississippi! The description also emphasizes how
common this species is and that it is widely distributed in temperate and subtropical
regions. So, again it fits. More than this, I have 'expanded' G. triplex on
my lawn from 'eggs' collected in the woods (see above) and they don't always produce a
collar. It may be related to the uniformity of conditions as the outer
peridium breaks and reflexes to form the star. Uneven drying results in a collar. Constant
high humidity (Mississippi in the summer?) suppresses the collar. I took a picture of my
collarless triplex on the lawn. If I can find it I'll put it on my website and let
you know.

So! There is the picture above!
AFTERTHOUGHT 6 YEARS LATER - and here is where I found the egg it came
from.